Dhaka, May 17 – A Dhaka court on Thursday withdrew the production warrant issued against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in the Niko graft case.Judge Md Mahmudul Kabir passed the order after Khaleda Zia’s counsel Sanaullah Miah submitted a petition seeking withdrawal of the production warrant issued on February 20.
Meanwhile, Sanaullah Mia submitted three more petitions seeking withdrawal of the production warrants against Khaleda Zia in Gatco, Barapukuria coal mine and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.
The judges of two other courts have already heard the petitions in Barapukuria and Gatco corruption cases and will pass orders later, Sanaullah Mia told newsmen. On the other hand, another trial court fixed June 4 for passing its order on the production warrant in Zia Charitable graft case, the defence lawyer said.
Khaleda cannot walk out of the prison right now even after winning a hard-fought legal battle for bail at the Supreme Court yesterday, as she didn’t get bail in seven other cases in which she was shown arrested, the lawyer added.
On December 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the Niko graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing Khaleda Zia and 10 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko during her tenure as Prime Minister.
The ACC filed the Gatco case on September 2, 2007, with Tejgaon Police Station against Khaleda Zia, her son late Arafat Rahman Koko, executed Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and the then Industries Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami and 10 others. Besides, the ACC filed the Barapukuria coalmine graft case with Shahbagh Police on February 26, 2008 accusing 16 people including BNP Chief Khaleda.
The anti-corruption watchdog (ACC) filed the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case with Tejgaon Police Station in August 2011, accusing Khaleda Zia and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources.
Two separate courts in Dhaka yesterday did not pass any order on two bail petitions of Khaleda Zia in the cases filed for undermining the national flag and celebrating “fake” birthday on the national morning day.
After hearing the bail petitions filed by Khaleda Zia’s counsels, the courts kept those in the case files without passing any order.
Metropolitan Magistrates Md Khursid Alam and Md Ahsan Habib fixed July 5 for submitting reports on the execution order of arrest warrants for Khaleda Zia in the two cases. Earlier, other courts issued arrest warrants against her in both of the cases.
AB Siddique, president of JananetriParishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, on November 3, 2016 had filed the case accusing Khaleda and her late husband former president Ziaur Rahman of undermining Bangladesh’s map and the national flag.
On August 30, 2016, Gazi Zahirul Islam, former joint general secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists, filed the other case against Khaleda Zia for allegedly celebrating fake birthdays on August 15 every year.
In the complaint, he mentioned that former Premier Khaleda’s actual date of birth was not August 15, but she celebrates her birthday on that date every year to undermine and dishonour Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. – Special Correspondent
